Old Rooster and Old Hen Team Hinder New Pullets in Nesting Boxes!

I have been raising chickens for about 4 years and just encountered my old Easter Egger Roo with Old Production red Hen attacking a new pullet and making her leave the nesting boxes. I wondered why all the new chickies were terrified of going back into the hen house only to discover the rooster and hen teaming up together to keep the new hens from laying their eggs in the nesting boxes.

Their are six nesting boxes and the 2 old girls are not laying at all and so far I have only found 1
hen to be laying from the new girls! The 20 new girls are about 22 weeks now and are making the noises and bowing and right on the verge of laying but now they are being pecked right out of the nesting boxes!

Can anyone tell me what is going on and or how to prevent this behavior. I understand about pecking order but these new girls have got to be able to lay their eggs in a safe place, too! Any suggestions to break these old meany's from their game?

You can try the standard feather-picking treatment, it tends to work with bullies as well. Put the rooster and hen in separate cages/crates, somewhere they can't see or interact with the new pullets, or see the coop/run. Keep them here for a week or more. Reintroduce them after this period of time, although I wouldn't do it together; introduce one, and then the other a few days later. This should hopefully drop the hen to the bottom of the pecking order, and though the rooster will always be the dominant animal, I doubt he will cause much trouble without the hen encouraging him - roosters usually tend to be welcoming of new hens.

Thanks so much for your reply but I don't know what the standard feather picking treatment is? I did separate them but did not leave them out long enough or reintroduce them separately! I will try again! I have other hens in a different coop that are going to need to be separated, too and I did not know what to do, so thanks again!

How long have the 22 week olds been with the rest of the flock?
Plenty of room in the coop for all your birds? Crowding can cause territorial disputes.
How many older layers do you have?
You may need a few more nests.

Often pullets are a subflock until they start laying, this could just be another step in integration.

I would segregate the bullies for several days and nights if possible.
It's strange that the rooster is bullying the new pullets....you only have one rooster in the flock?

Thanks for your response! The pullets have been alone until I put them with the roo and his two girls. I have several flocks of birds and this flock is in a coop that is 30 ft X 12 ft. and the long row of nesting boxes takes up approximately a 7 feet long by 15 inch wide wall space. They are out during the day in an extremely large run that is 75 ft. X 40 feet wide. The girls go back and forth to lay their eggs but they are new pullets. I scour the yard every day to make sure they are not laying in the yard and I know that one of the brown Leghorns is now laying inside the coop in the end nesting box to the right.
The other girls are going in and out of the nesting boxes and many of them are beginning to bow down and make the usual noises that hens make when they are getting ready to lay their eggs! I noticed that the girls all seemed a little scared of going back into the coop and therefore I had to investigate further and found the old hen and old roo on patrol and they both pecked on the girl until she ran out of the hen house and into the yard!
Yes, I only have one rooster in this flock. He and his 2 girls are left from a larger flock that I had that survived after raccoon's went on a killing spree while my husband was working out of town and could not get home to fix the breaches in the wire that was buried but beginning to rust.
All of the breaches have been repaired now by burying chain-link fencing 3 feet deep and so far it has kept the intruders out! I needed room in the other hen house for another new flock and so since his girls were almost gone I thought it would be a good change for them. This roo is very loyal to these old girls but I noticed that when they are out in the large yard with the other flocks that he will even charge at the other hens that are not in his flock if they come near his hens. I have never witnessed another roo do this! He does not mate with the other's either with the exception of one of the brown leghorn who is the one that is laying! She hangs out with him and his other two girls so I suppose the other one's are not yet women and he avoids them but also bullies them if his one girl does...he joins in with her!
Anyway, I have now separated them and don't have a roo with the new pullets! I will keep them out and try and reintroduce them in a week! Thanks for your suggestions!

QueenMisha said:

You can try the standard feather-picking treatment, it tends to work with bullies as well. Put the rooster and hen in separate cages/crates, somewhere they can't see or interact with the new pullets, or see the coop/run. Keep them here for a week or more. Reintroduce them after this period of time, although I wouldn't do it together; introduce one, and then the other a few days later. This should hopefully drop the hen to the bottom of the pecking order, and though the rooster will always be the dominant animal, I doubt he will cause much trouble without the hen encouraging him - roosters usually tend to be welcoming of new hens.

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I should have clarified better, standard feather picking treatment = what I described. Feather-picking is essentially a more severe form of bullying (although it can, in some cases, result from boredom/crowding rather than simple aggression), so the initial treatment is basically the same.

JuliaEggstoreCo said:

Thanks for your response! The pullets have been alone until I put them with the roo and his two girls. I have several flocks of birds and this flock is in a coop that is 30 ft X 12 ft. and the long row of nesting boxes takes up approximately a 7 feet long by 15 inch wide wall space. They are out during the day in an extremely large run that is 75 ft. X 40 feet wide. The girls go back and forth to lay their eggs but they are new pullets. I scour the yard every day to make sure they are not laying in the yard and I know that one of the brown Leghorns is now laying inside the coop in the end nesting box to the right.
The other girls are going in and out of the nesting boxes and many of them are beginning to bow down and make the usual noises that hens make when they are getting ready to lay their eggs! I noticed that the girls all seemed a little scared of going back into the coop and therefore I had to investigate further and found the old hen and old roo on patrol and they both pecked on the girl until she ran out of the hen house and into the yard!
Yes, I only have one rooster in this flock. He and his 2 girls are left from a larger flock that I had that survived after raccoon's went on a killing spree while my husband was working out of town and could not get home to fix the breaches in the wire that was buried but beginning to rust.
All of the breaches have been repaired now by burying chain-link fencing 3 feet deep and so far it has kept the intruders out! I needed room in the other hen house for another new flock and so since his girls were almost gone I thought it would be a good change for them. This roo is very loyal to these old girls but I noticed that when they are out in the large yard with the other flocks that he will even charge at the other hens that are not in his flock if they come near his hens. I have never witnessed another roo do this! He does not mate with the other's either with the exception of one of the brown leghorn who is the one that is laying! She hangs out with him and his other two girls so I suppose the other one's are not yet women and he avoids them but also bullies them if his one girl does...he joins in with her!
Anyway, I have now separated them and don't have a roo with the new pullets! I will keep them out and try and reintroduce them in a week! Thanks for your suggestions!

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What I meant was how long have the new pullets been with the rooster and 2 hens.
If they have just been introduced within the last few weeks they may still be working out territory issues, which include the nests.

Yes! I think I see what you mean now! They were only together for a little over a week! I will try it again in a week and expect adjustments since the new girls are new to this and they all need time to establish boundaries, pecking order and such! Thanks so much for your help!